


Game Time

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: Last Summer [6]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Gaming, Gen, Plagiarism, Summer Collab 2020, Wattpad Gaming - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:06:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25905553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: A game intended to be released the next day shows up in a package at Isaac's door and he thinks getting a preview is a rather cool chance of luck - but it's not.
Series: Last Summer [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850053
Kudos: 1
Collections: (Prompts) Last Summer Collab Prompts, MinorFandomFest





	Game Time

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Stardew Valley or My Time in Portia. This was written for one of the prompts for Last Summer Conest Collab over on Wattpad. I'm going to try to write at least one story per prompt before August 15th for the fun of it. This one is written for **WattpadGaming's** prompt and needed to be 1.5-2k.
> 
> "You and your friend are excited about the release of the biggest game that has everyone shaking with anticipation. But the day before the event, you get a package and it turns out that someone had sent you the game before it's released to the world. However, when you started playing the game, the screen turned black and words began to appear on the black screen. "I know what you did last summer.""

_The_ game…

The excitement behind _the_ game kept building up. Isaac watched the online hype carefully, yet having an older sibling directly involved with the project proved an additional driving force behind Issac’s own personal excitement, although his older brother didn’t say what exactly his direct experience with the game development _was,_ something Isaac pushed aside. His best friend Ralph also felt the same level of excitement regarding the launch of the game.

What Isaac didn’t expect was the mysterious package to show up on the doorstep addressed to nobody in particular. Without thinking anything amiss, he opened up the game and looked down at the object in his hands, his eyes widening. His mouth opened, his delight making him respond by calling up Ralph, letting him know about the discovery. More specifically, he asked him to come over and see said discovery without telling him _what_ it was.

“Wait. But the game isn’t supposed to be released until, like tomorrow.”

“Maybe it has something to do with Asher having a connection to the programming of the game, right?”

“Yeah, but wouldn’t that mean the package was for him?”

“He doesn’t need to know. Plus, getting to try out the game early is like, one of the most awesome things ever.”

“I don’t know. I heard that companies are very particular regarding leaks and stuff regarding games and such.”

“Yeah, but we’re not going to leak the information, just play the game early. Nobody needs to know.”

That’s how Issac found himself playing the game with his best friend in his bedroom, obviously trying to hide the fact from his older brother. Or at least…

He’d not expected the screen to turn black, the words “ _I know what you did last summer_ ” displayed across the screen in red.

“So, um – is this supposed to be like a horror game. I didn’t think it was.”

Issac let out a sigh, tilting his head backward. “I knew it was too good to be true. Someone pranked us.”

“Well, you did brag about your brother being one of the people on the game developing team to everyone who would listen to school before school let out for the summer, right?

“Right.” Issac let out a deep breath, remembering he’d indeed bragged about his brother being involved with the game just before school let out. When he’d not been able to get into specifics regarding what his brother did regarding the game, Isaac found the other kids not believing what he said. Frowning, his fingers tapped at the edge of the controller he used for gaming. “Yeah, but…”

“But?”

“ _Why can’t you go into specifics regarding your brother’s job?_ ”

“ _Well, he’s not allowed to talk about it,_ ” was Isaac’s response.

“ _Yeah. We get the fact he’s not allowed to talk specifics about the game, but surely, he can at least tell you something along the lines of say he’s working on the character designs or the story. You can’t even tell us that._ ”

Letting out a deep breath, Isaac looked at the ground, which was cluttered with other games he and Ralph were playing before the game showed up. “I don’t know. I mean, would someone go to this kind of length if they didn’t believe me?”

“Someone would if they were jealous of the fact your brother worked for the company and was involved in the game.”

“Yeah, but…”

“I’ve personally heard your older brother Jaxson tell us he was involved with the game, but I told the other kids that he was involved. Not your fault he didn’t want to talk about what he did for the game, right?”

“Yeah, but…”

“But what?”

“Do you really think anybody at our school would be capable of doing this. I mean, we’re in high school, so maybe?”

“Well…” Ralph stared at Issac, then looked away. “I guess not.”

“Let’s just forget about this. The game is set to release tomorrow and our parents promised they would buy us the game when it came out. We’ll be stuck in line because they didn’t bother preordering as well.”

“Maybe because Jaxson got a secret copy? Or will have a copy coming to him. I mean, your parents normally let you preorder. My parents, not so much.”

Isaac didn’t think anymore regarding the incident until the news hit. He felt his heart sinking at the dinner table while his father watched the news like always in the evening along with their mother. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his older brother become agitated, glancing away from their parents. The game release was being postponed due to a plagiarism lawsuit, something Isaac didn’t quite understand.

“Isn’t the game you were working on honey?” their mother asked.

“I, uh – yeah.”

“I can’t imagine this being quite helpful to your career in the computer programming field. What a waste of that degree we paid for,” their father said.

“That…”

“Come on. This isn’t Jaxson’s fault.”

“I think I’ll head to my room.”

Isaac picked at his food, finally finding himself leaving the table after finishing. He headed straight for his brother’s room, knowing full well something was upsetting his older brother. He knocked on the door. “Jaxson?”

“I want to be left alone.”

“I know, but…” Isaac took a deep breath. “Could this have anything to do with the early release copy that showed up yesterday.”

The door to his brother’s room opened up. “What advanced copy? Show me.”

Reluctantly, he got the game that was sent and gave it to his brother. His brother started the game up on his own system, but when the same message of “ _I know what you did last summer_ ” popped up the color drained from his face.

He took a deep breath, then said, “Shit.”

“Jaxson?”

“This is none of your business Isaac.”

“Yeah, but.”

“Don’t you dare tell mother about this. Or father.” Jaxson shoved him out of his room.

Isaac turned. “You wouldn’t know about this if…”

“You weren’t the person this was meant for in the first place. I think you already know that, so stay out of my fucking business.”

The door slammed in his face.

…

Issac told his parents the reason for taking the bus to Stardew Valley was so he and Ralph could go for a swim at the beach, given the fact they were in the summer months and the weather was in fact warm. His parents like the idea of him getting outside for a change, but felt he was old enough to take a day trip on his own, as did Ralph’s parents. Of course, they would be heading into their senior year at high school next year.

In reality though, the reason for going came down to wanting to find out whatever his brother was hiding, particularly since the way Jaxson reacted to his inquiring into the meaning behind the message of “ _I know what you did last summer_ ” continued leaving him disappointed in a way he couldn’t put his finger on. The reason he and Ralph were headed to Stardew Valley came from a rumor on the web regarding the person whose work was stolen lived in Stardew Valley.

He looked out of the bus, watching the landscape pass by. Ralph sat in the seat next to him, playing a handheld game, his focus glued on whatever game he was playing. Isaac might have been able to decern the game from the music he heard, yet he didn’t feel in the mood to do so, particularly with his older brother’s rather negative attitude and the way he started hiding away in his room as if hiding away from the world.

Eventually, the bus pulled into the bus stop at Stardew Valley and Issac took a deep breath while Ralph continued playing his game. Eventually, though, Ralph slipped his gaming system into his bag. They headed into town and they looked around for someone who might tell them where the person rumored to have actually created the game lived. He looked around, unsure of whether he was doing the right thing, given the fact he was invading someone’s privacy.

Yet…

Someone invaded his brother’s privacy.

Walking into the town, he stopped the first person they came across and asked where they could find the person they were looking for. The person looked at them in surprise, but then indicated the path up into the mountains telling them the should ask for the person at Robin’s carpentry shop.

Of course, the hike up the mountain trail to the small shop was quite long, but the person behind the counter at first didn’t want to introduce them to the person they wanted to as there were a few others who were seeking out information for the same reason; name dropping his brother’s name which the woman with red hair took downstairs to her son which in turn made him want to see them.

They headed downstairs into the basement room, where a young man who appeared to be around his brother’s age sat in front of a bunch of computers. His fingers tapped the top of the desk, his mouth pressed into a line. “So…”

“Look, Jaxson’s my older brother…”

“I only sent the game,” Sebastian admitted. “I didn’t file the lawsuit regarding the plagiarism, but I know…” He let out a sigh. “Look, if I had known this might affect…” His mouth snapped shut, almost as if he were unsure of what to say to Issac.

“Why?” Issac let out a sigh. “Why did you send it?”

“Because…” Sebastian leaned back in his computer chair while someone else started down the stairs to the basement. “I don’t want to say anything which might make you hate your older brother.”

“Why?” Isaac found himself frustrated with the person in front of him., the door to the room opening.

Sebastian looked away. “Because I know what it’s like to be hated by a younger sibling.”

“Hey.” Another person appeared, making Isaac turn his head. Ralph was of course interested in his game again. The person in question ran a hand through their blond hair. “Can I ask what you’re bugging Seb about?”

Isaac looked back at Sebastian, watching how his entire body tensed up. “This is about my brother and his connection to…”

“A certain game which was pulled from publication?” Sam piped up. “Mind if we talk outside? I might be able to explain things better than Seb. Let me ask him something real quick.”

Isaac took a deep breath, heading upstairs with his best friend while the person in question whispered something to Sebastian quickly before following him out of the house. “So…” The blonde said. “My name’s Sam.”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with anything.”

“I’m going to be blunt with you because Sebastian is struggling to do so. Your brother stole a project Sebastian worked on while they were both at school and sold it off last summer.”

Isaac felt his heart sink. “Wait. He said he simply was the one sending my brother the game.”

“Seb says that it’s likely a lawyer his father hired to represent his rights on this matter, given the fact he didn’t think he had any real recourse.”

“Yeah, but he said something about feeling guilty because he knows what it’s like to have a younger sibling hating him.”

“Doesn’t change what your brother did, but that’s just one of the many issues he’s dealing with. And, honestly, I’m sorry you had to find out about your brother like this.”

“No.” Issac still didn’t quite understand what was going on, but at least now he knew. He knew he would need to go home and talk to his brother.


End file.
